Prehistoric Cultures of the City of Wildwood St. Louis County, Missouri
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PREHISTORIC CULTURES OF THE CITY OF WILDWOOD ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI Prepared for: City of Wildwood Prepared by: Joe Harl and Robin Machiran Archaeological Research Center of St. Louis Inc. 2812 Woodson Road St. Louis, Missouri Phone: 314-426-2577, FAX: 314-426-2599 Email: [email protected], Web Site: arc-stl.com Research Report # 688B February, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENT Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….……….1 Pre-Clovis Period (Before 9500 B.C.)……………………………………..………………….…..7 Paleoindian Period (9500-8000 B.C.)……………………………………………………………..9 Dalton Period (8900-7900 B.C.)…………………………………………………………………12 Early Archaic Period (7900-6500 B.C.)…………………………………………………………17 Middle Archaic Period (6500-3500 B.C.)……………………………………………………….18 Late Archaic Period (3500-700 B.C.)…………………………………………………………....23 Early Woodland Period (700-150 B.C.)…………………………………………………………31 Middle Woodland Period (150 B.C.-A.D. 300)…………………………………………………34 Late Woodland Pottery (A.D. 300-900)…………………………………………………………39 Emergent Mississippian Period (A.D. 900-1050)……………………………………………….46 Mississippian Period (A.D. 1050-1400)…………………………………………………………55 Protohisotric Period (A.D. 1400-1700s)…………………………………………………………64 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………………67 Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………………...73 1 FIGURES Figure 1: Location of Wildwood in Eastern Missouri……………………………………………3 Figure 2: Location of Prairie Communities Prior to European American Settlement…………....4 Figure 3: Surface Exposures of Burlington Chert…………………………….…………..………5 Figure 4: Tools Used By Groups In Siberia Also Found In America…………………………….8 Figure 5: Clovis and Folsom Points…………………...……………………….……………..9 Figure 6: Typical Display Wrongly Depicting Paleoindian Hunters Driving a Mammoth Into the Mud to Kill It………...……………………………………….11 Figure 7: Rockshelter In Babler State Park Used For Storage Or Temporary Shelter………….13 Figure 8: Storage Pit Containing Items Used For Making Chert Tools………….……...……...13 Figure 9: Using An Atlatl To Throw A Spear………………………………..………….……...14 Figure 10: Spear Points Attached To Foreshafts………………………………………………...14 Figure 11: Dalton Points…………………………………………………………………………15 Figure 12: Early Archaic Points………………………………………………………………….17 Figure 13: Depiction Of Middle Archaic Life…………………………………………………...18 Figure 14: 1590 Engraving By DeBry Of Native Americans Cooking Fish…………………….19 Figure 15: Hematite Plummets Used As Net Sinkers……………………………………………19 Figure 16: Middle Archaic Points………………………………………………………………..20 Figure 17: Half Excavated Nut Processing Pit…………………………………………………..22 Figure 18: Nut Processing Pit……………………………………………………………………22 Figure 19: Half Excavated Earth Oven With Some of the Limestone Slabs Left In Place...….23 Figure 20: Burlington Chert Processing Stations Found at the Hayden Site…………….………25 Figure 21: Late Archaic Projectile Points………………………………………………………..26 Figure 22: Cache of Burlington Chert Preforms…………………………………………………27 Figure 23: Remains of a Permanent Late Archaic House………………………………………..28 Figure 24: Aerial Photograph of a late Late Archaic Community Only Partially Excavated……29 Figure 25: Spear Points Used At the End of the Late Archaic Period…………………………...30 Figure 26: Early Woodland Projectile Points...………………………………………………….31 Figure 27: Marion Thick Pottery Vessels………………………………………………………..32 Figure 28: Black Sand Vessel……………………………………………………………………33 Figure 29: Some Ornate Vessels Produced During the Middle Woodland Period……………....34 Figure 30: Casper the Ghost Figurine……………………………………………………………36 Figure 31: Middle Woodland Projectile Points………………………………………….…….38 Figure 32: Late Woodland Pottery……………………………………………………………….39 Figure 33: Native Starchy Seed Plants Domesticated by Late Woodland Groups………………41 Figure 34: Late Woodland Elbow Tobacco Pipe………………………………………………...42 Figure 35: Spear Points Used During First Half of the Late Woodland Period…………………43 Figure 36: Smaller Arrow Points Used During Late Woodland Period After A.D. 700………...44 Figure 37: Cordage Twist Exhibited on Pottery…………………………………………………47 Figure 38: Emergent Mississippian Arrow Points……………………………………………….48 Figure 39: Late Emergent Mississippian Jar……………………………………………………..49 Figure 40: Redslip Bowl…………………………………………………………………………49 2 FIGURES continued Figure 41: Lugs and Loop Handles………………………………………………………………50 Figure 42: Effigy Loop Handles and Lugs………………………………………………………51 Figure 43: Globular Vessel………………………………………………………………………52 Figure 44: Stumpware……………………………………………………………………………52 Figure 45: Burlington Chert Hoe………………………………………………………………..53 Figure 46: Discoidals and Catlin’s Painting of Mandan Playing Chunkey……………………..53 Figure 47: Samples of Emergent Mississippian Effigy and Tobacco Pipes……………………..54 Figure 48: Bushnell’s 1904 Map of Mound Centers in the St. Louis Area……………………...55 Figure 49: Artist Recreation of Central Portion of Cahokia……………………………………..56 Figure 50: Sample of Marine Shell Beads and Whelks Shells From the Dampier Site………….59 Figure 51: God’s Mask Ear Ornaments………………………………………………………….60 Figure 52: Jar Introduced During Mississippian Period…………………………………………61 Figure 53: Arrow Points Produced During the Mississippian Period……………………………62 Figure 54: Oneoto Pottery Vessels from Western Missouri……………………………………..66 3 Introduction Most people mistakenly think that the original inhabitants of eastern Missouri, who were here prior to the arrival of European settlers in the 1700s, had only simple cultures. They believe that these “Indians” wore little clothing, lived in Plains-style tepees, were guided by fear and superstition, generally deprived of many material goods, and had unsophisticated lives. They often are depicted as wild “savages” who constantly murdered each other in an endless cycle of blood feuds. It also is assumed that these people responded to their environment in a similar fashion as any plant or animal species, without culture and technology to free them from these constraints. These stereotypical views of prehistoric Native Americans are far from fact. Prehistoric groups were no different than people living today. Although their technology and aesthetic tastes differed from our own, they had many of the same desires and wants as us today, i.e.: to have a comfortable life, to find relief from the daily toil, to improve their standard of living, and hope that their children's lives would be better than their own. They developed very rich and vibrant cultures that only now we are beginning to appreciate. Understanding this past gives us a better comprehension of their amazing accomplishments. Even more importantly, some of their foods, medicines, and ideas could be reintroduced today to improve our lives. Other than the few impressive earthen mounds that have survived into the present, the majority of these people’s accomplishments, unfortunately, are hidden; buried beneath the ground. Their achievements are further minimized as many objects they produced did not survive into the present. Unlike the Egyptians, or various groups who lived in Mexico, who built magnificent cities out of stone, the people of this area had a resource not available to these groups, wood. They used wood to construct buildings, forming magnificent cities. Wood also was used to produce tools, make watercraft, cook their food, light their homes, and produce their art. Unfortunately, wood does not survive the ravages of time. We can only infer how wood was used by the stains left in the ground, or from charred fragments that managed to survive. In order to understand these past people, archaeologists in this region have to depend on careful detective work to gather as much information as possible from the fragile clues that did survive. This information can only be obtained if the objects are carefully excavated, and, similar to clues at a crime scene, it is important that the artifacts be documented in place along with their association from other remains. From this evidence, archaeologists can determine activities that took place and even infer the motivation behind these activities by past people. Even simple things, such as differences in the surrounding soil color or texture can be important. Any time someone digs a hole into the ground, they change the color and feel of that earth. When people build a camp fire, the ground beneath that fire becomes scorched, turning a reddish color. Pieces of fire wood are carbonized and survive. Carbonized pieces from ancient fires can be sent to a radiocarbon laboratory, which can tell the approximate date of the fire. Other carbonized pieces can be sent to a paleoethnobotanist (an ancient plant specialist) who can determine what type of wood was preferred in the fires, and even whether the wood had been cut or picked off the ground as rotten logs. It is from these clues that we are just beginning to understand the remarkable cultures developed by the prehistoric inhabitants. 1 Past people were able to engineer such elaborate societies because eastern Missouri contains a wealth of natural resources that could be exploited. This land was a virtual “Garden of Eden” with a wide range of plants and animals that could be acquired for food, fuel, medicines, construction, or art. Native Americans had no problem in obtaining needed resources. In fact, these people generally worked far fewer hours and spent more time on leisure activities than we do today. The rivers: Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, Meramec, and Cuivre, and tributary streams, such as Wildhorse Creek, today within the City of Wildwood, offered a wealth of fish and migratory birds (Figure 1). These waters also drew various mammals, reptiles,